Windows Vista is known for a lot of things. Among them is eating memory, both in storage and RAM, like a fat kid through cake. The folks who made VLite, a program designed to let you custom-build a Windows Vista disk without a lot of things you don't need, were very proud of what their program was doing for people who liked a streamlined operating system. Unfortunately for VLite, Microsoft has sent a look of scorn at the makers of the software. A public outcry asks, why? After all, VLite keeps people using Vista, instead of letting them come to the conclusion that XP is more streamlined, and should be used in place of Vista. However, Microsoft's reason for not liking VLite actually makes a lot of sense. When users go merrily chopping programs and processes willy-nilly, they risk keeping Windows Vista from updating properly in the future. Basically, Windows Update would try to update a component that isn't there, making parts of Windows unstable, and possibly bricking the whole system.

As long as you understand the risks, though, and know what you're doing, using VLite should not be a problem, and Microsoft is not going to make VLite copies of Vista illegal.

they have a point when i used vlite last time it was missing something i couldnt rename folders and files until i reinstalled with the normal vista it ran fine. vlites good just have to make sure your not removing anything vital

I really wish Windows Installation allowed users to choose components to be installed in a manner similar to RedHat Anaconda, while masking those features Microsoft felt were vital (for the OS, not it's profits ) That would have made Windows Vista an OS to look upto.

Yeah i agree with ya bta wmp 11 is gathering dust as i use irfanview and media player classic while wpg is the same. Microsoft aint gonna make them illegal cause there doing vista a favour by encouraging users to stick with it.

I really wish Windows Installation allowed users to choose components to be installed in a manner similar to RedHat Anaconda, while masking those features Microsoft felt were vital (for the OS, not it's profits ) That would have made Windows Vista an OS to look upto.

Actually.. I have a lot of friends who were happy when they bought their "first" PC, being anything from Dell, HP to Compaq. Now they all complain that the damn OS doesn't function properly. I don't know much about Vista, might be good or bad. But I do know that when so many complain about a product something has to be wrong.. But then that's why there are Service Packs, to remove the "errors" from the software. Just sad that MS didn't test it 1 more year before the final release of Vista..

My XP version is missing LOTS from a standard install. Guess what? It doesn't try to update anything that isn't there, and considering that the delivery system is exactly the same for both XP and Vista I think that's a downright lie.

A few of my updates are actually to put BACK the stuff I took out lol. I just ignore them.

Microsoft is smarter than that, they can at least protocol correctly. Windows has never shipped with spyware. Regarding WGA, Microsoft has the right to defend its intellectual property.

I'm not sure you saw how Anaconda categorises its options, it's definitely not that way .

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spyware... as ket once said, its a feature that comes built into vista.. vista runs checks to make sure you're not using pirated software.. it has wga, and internet explorer doesn't delete your history even if you hit the delete button.. i call that spyware.

spyware... as ket once said, its a feature that comes built into vista.. vista runs checks to make sure you're not using pirated software.. it has wga, and internet explorer doesn't delete your history even if you hit the delete button.. i call that spyware.

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I wouldn't call that spyware because it's doing nothing to harm you. Checking if you use pirated software or not is not a malicious feature, in fact it's a boon for small-time software developers who have families to feed and their work is being used for free illegaly. Even if Microsoft does it to make sure you don't illegaly use a Microsoft product, nothing wrong, so it's not spyware. Afterall, Microsoft isn't making use of your personal data to target advertisements at you, maybe the data they collect would be used to improve their services to you. This is similar to Valve corporation aggressively collecting user data of its millions of Steam subscribers. If approached by a legal channel, Valve can even disclose you information about exactly who did what with their Steam platform product and when. That's spyware too.

im sure even with People who have top of Line machines can get a major benefit out of Vlite, Its funny MS didnt go after them for Nlite aswell. It doesnt violate any Copyrites, and if MS try to pull reverse engineering card, what are Registry Tweaks, Slipstreaming, what are all the apps out there that Do tweaks to the OS that are 3rd party and protect systems? I swear MS is bitching cause they are greedy bastards, they make more than enough money, hell im military and i dont make as much as most out there, and dont say i get benefits for free because i dont thats how the military works nowadays.

My XP version is missing LOTS from a standard install. Guess what? It doesn't try to update anything that isn't there, and considering that the delivery system is exactly the same for both XP and Vista I think that's a downright lie.

A few of my updates are actually to put BACK the stuff I took out lol. I just ignore them.

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I can attest to this whole issue. When I got my DFI x38 board, I made a custom Vista disc and slimmed it down to 1.3GB. Removed a plethora of crap. All was fine for a little while, but then when I was using Windows Update it either didnt work or the updates just failed to install. I was also having problems with stability. I kept getting BSOD's because of it. Reinstalled the FULL version of Vista x64 and all is well. Needless to say, the only thing im going to use vLite for again is to setup unattended installations.

I can attest to this whole issue. When I got my DFI x38 board, I made a custom Vista disc and slimmed it down to 1.3GB. Removed a plethora of crap. All was fine for a little while, but then when I was using Windows Update it either didnt work or the updates just failed to install. I was also having problems with stability. I kept getting BSOD's because of it. Reinstalled the FULL version of Vista x64 and all is well. Needless to say, the only thing im going to use vLite for again is to setup unattended installations.